Orion At Your Service
by ngneer
Summary: TBR Contest.  Holly has to save delusional Artemis from the rogue fairy space probe and runs into his alter ego.  This takes place immediately after the chapter 1 excerpt from Atlantis Complex so read that first.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N : After reading and reviewing many AF fan fics, I am writing one of my own. I do not own Artemis Fowl. Please R and R. **

Holly stared at Artemis. The vacant look in his mismatched eyes and the soundlessly moving lips were so unnerving to see on him. "Fowl! Are you with me?" She looked at him with a hard edge to her voice, trying to get his attention. "You need to focus so we can get back to Foaly and to safety, now!"

Earlier, as the fairy probe was bearing down on Artemis, Holly jumped from the roof of Great Skua and quickly excavated the centaur with her bare hands from his undignified head plant in the snow. Foaly righted himself, then reactivated his monocle which miraculously had stayed on his eye. "Why won't the probe respond?", he muttered, as he tried various command codes .

Artemis, meanwhile, was realizing that the probe may be real. "Death, four words, death", he said. Then, "_Get hold of yourself, Fowl, don't let this beat you", _he thought, struggling, fighting the delusions. Finally, with his last string of lucid thought, he yelled to the LEPRecon captain, "Holly, get to the Ice Cube, now and point it at the the probe's cone!". _"Fifteen, good", _he thought and succumbed back to delusions.

Holly, her military training kicking in, sped to the cube hoping the assertiveness in Artemis' voice had some genius behind it. Foaly thought a second, and then figured out Fowl's plan. "Yes, fire all the nano-wafers directly in front of the probes sensor array, which is in the cone. Do it quickly!"

Holly reached the Ice Cube, and directed the cannon-like muzzle at the probe's cone. The probe had slowed, almost hovering, seemingly stalking Artemis as he ran haphazardly away from it. Artemis had lost his last sense of reality and was pointing at the probe shaking his finger at it. Not noticing the teenager and concentrating on the work at hand, Holly peered just an instant at the wires and chips under the bowl of the device, finding a red button wired to what looked like a fairy-designed power source. The fleeting thought of anger at Artemis still using fairy technology was quickly forgotten at Foaly's cry. "Now or it's going to fire again!"

Looking up, Holly saw another orange bubble forming in front of the probe. She punched the button and grabbed the muzzle to ensure the aim and steady the machine. Rumbling into life, the machine hummed then suddenly emitted a shower of small, white wafers, creating a cloud of what looked like snow in front of the probe.

Suddenly, the probe began to behave erratically, pitching and yawing, right, left, up, down then backwards. "Keep the muzzle pointed at the cone!" shouted Foaly. Adjusting the aim, Holly kept the cloud of nano-wafers just in front of the probe's pointed front. The probe continued to jerk and stagger, like a drunken bird unaware of it's location. Suddenly, the orange plasma disappeared. Small doors along the side of the craft opened, extending antennae type devices, which looked rather antique, compared to the surrounding fairy technology. Once the antennae were fully extended, the probe's erratic motion stopped. The engines revved up, and the craft turned sharpley, lifting it's nose and roared away from the Great Skua and the trio of stranded compatriots.

"What the hell just happened" asked Holly, forgetting Artemis for the moment. Foaly took a breath, gathering himself. "The nano wafers were designed to reflect sunlight." replied Foaly. "Those same characteristics, made them perfect for reflecting the probe's sensor signals. By shooting them into the path of those signals, right at the array from which the were emitted, the probe was blinded. It only escaped, because I designed a back-up system of mud-man level radar sensors. While primitive, they give the probe just enough information to navigate and escape. That design did work brilliantly".

Holly was unimpressed. "That's the only thing that worked right, unfortunately". Foaly wasn't listening, "I got hand it to mud-boy, he thought of the solution to get us out of this mess". Holly started, "Where is Artemis?" and immediately began a search.

She quickly located the wayward genius through the infrared filter in her helmet visor. His warm body stuck out like a beacon against the cold, snowy background. Bringing him back to relative safety and conducting a rational conversation, was another matter, entirely. Activating the wings in her shimmer suit, the LEPRecon captain caught up to Fowl in under a minute. When she landed in front of the running boy, he stopped for a moment. "This is all just a figment of my overworked imagination, he said, pausing, then smiling satisfactorily at the 10 word sentence. "You are not really here. As soon as I get away from this icy place, all things will be normal." He began running again, in no certain direction, just away from her.

Exasperated, Holly fired up her wings and took after him, again landing in front of him, but this time grabbing him and shouting, "Does this feel like your imagination?". Artemis looked at her aghast, "Holly that is six words! The gods don't like six." He tried to escape her grasp, but she would have no part of it, her strong hands holding him like a vice. "OK, Arty, OK, I'll remember," she said slowly, as she counted. "But please, you must come with me right now…"she paused and counted, "Artemis", she added, reaching 10 words.

Artemis relaxed some, but his eyes kept looking around, unable or unwilling to focus on the red haired elf. Holly repeated, "Fowl, Are… You… With… Me?", she said slower, emphasizing each word, looking earnestly into his eyes. He looked back into hers and froze. His lips stopped moving and his eyes for a moment, seemed to lose focus. Then, his countenance changed abruptly. The blank, confused and frightened emotions were suddenly gone. His stance went from defensive to confident. He smiled an almost smarmy smile that was more repulsive to Holly than his vampire smirk. "Why Captain Short, it is such a pleasure to see you.", he said smoothly, even warmly. "Even in this frigid environment, I feel comfortably warm…it must be because you are holding me so tight"

Holly stared at the boy. "Artemis, are you all right?", "_None of those sentences were multiples of 5_", she thought to herself. The boy answered, "Artemis, that fool is gone. Allow me to introduce my self. Orion, at your service.", he said, bowing low to the ground and rising with that same, smarmy smile. Holly's jaw dropped open…she was utterly speechless.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N - This was supposed to be a two-shot, but it grew.

Foaly was tracking the probe's high-speed departure, watching his sensors through the monocle. He was still trying to regain control, or at least communicate with the rogue spacecraft with little success. Every command code that existed for the centaur designed craft was being sent without response. Even his "back-door" entrances to the high level systems were being met with gibberish."Why can't I hack into my own system?" he muttered to himself. "It's as though this were a completely alien ship, created by some advanced species even smarter than me…" Foaly paused. "Oh Frond!", he thought, "Could that be it?" As he paused to contemplate the possibility, the genius centaur never felt more powerless.

"_We need Fowl's brain power to put together with mine, if we are going figure out this one_" he thought, then realized, "_If he has any left_." Foaly immediately stopped trying to communicate with the probe and called up all the know fairy files on The Atlantis Complex. "_I sure could use a box of carrots right now", _he mused.

Several hundred meters away, Holly was coming to her own realization. Several seconds after the body of Artemis introduced himself as Orion, all she could was repeat "Orion?_"_, as she tried to gather her thoughts. "Yes, my dear, Orion.", replied the teenager, " I am here to serve you in any way I can, in the hope of getting to know you better and catering to your needs", Orion flashed a toothy smile and arched his eyebrow, knowingly.

Holly again stared at the boy. Then realizing she had no time for this, as the probe could be returning at any second, she made a snap decision. She quickly reached out to Artemis' / Orions' neck with her thumb and two fingers of her free hand. Probing for the correct nerve cluster, she pinched the spot she was looking for. Artemis / Orion's smile froze as his eyeballs bulged. One second later, he went down in a heap on the snowy surface. "Sorry Arty or whoever you are", she whispered to the unconscious form, "we need to get moving".

Quickly she pulled out her moon belt and strapped a harness around her and Artemis / Orion. Then, she clipped the moon belt at each end to each harness. Checking the connections once to be sure, she activated her wings and headed for Foaly. She called to Foaly through her helmet comm system.

"Foaly, do you read, this is Holly".

"Holly, where are you and the mud-boy. I need to see Artemis as soon as possible", replied the centaur. There was urgency in his voice that was more than a little disquieting. "I have an ETA of 1 minute to your 20, with the mud-boy in tow", she replied in military jargon. Then, more informally, "what's wrong, Foaly?".

Foaly explained his problems communicating with the space probe and his conclusion. "Holly, that's the only explanation. Advanced aliens commandeered, re-built and reprogrammed its information infrastructure, while leaving its basic systems in place. This allows them to control the craft that we suppose is harmless and under our programming. They have created an interplanetary version of a Trojan Horse!"

Holly gasped to herself as she was now approaching the centaur with him in her vision. "We need to get Artemis and his brain fully functional as it is going to take our combined brain power to have a chance at defeating this thing.", Foaly went on. "We have a problem, there Foaly", replied Holly. "Let me land and get the mud boy situated then I'll explain."

Holly landed and disconnected Artemis / Orion from the moon belt. She took him inside the Great Skua and laid him gently on the floor. She turned to Foaly, who followed her inside and described her conversation with "Orion". "Oh gods", the centaur exclaimed, "It has reached the acute stage!" Holly stared. "You mean the Atlantis Complex?" she asked. "Yes, acquisition of multiple personalities is the final stage before complete and permanent loss of all cognitive function and perception of reality!"

Holly couldn't believe it. Artemis losing his sanity? It was unthinkable that it could happen! "Foaly, is there any way to stop this? We have to do something." Foaly nodded, "while you were retrieving the mud-boy, I was downloading all I could find on the Atlantis Complex. I need some time to research what I got. In the mean time, he needs to be kept calm and quiet. This will keep the conditioning from deteriorating faster." "Well, he's out like a sprite caught in a dwarf gas cross fire", said Holly. "He won't be waking up for awhile."

"Just be sure you are there when he wakes, otherwise, he may freak out and that is the last thing he needs. Also, I need to be left alone to let my powerful brain absorb the data so we can get that boy's brain functional again." Holly rolled her eyes but Foaly already turned away and made one last check on the probe's status. Noticing that it was no longer visible to his sensors, he grunted approval and turned to his research.

Holly sat next to Artemis. He was resting quietly for the moment, his steady breathing audible in the quiet room. As she started to contemplate her lost comrades, she realized that she had not reported this disaster to the LEP. Commander Kelp should be informed of the rogue spacecraft and the threat it poses to the people. Just as she was about to open a comm link to LEP command, Foaly entered the room. "Holly, I don't think it's safe to open voice communications with LEP command. It may be picked up by the probe which could cause it to return and finish us off. You'll have to communicate via email as that requires a much less strong signal and far less data.". Holly paused before responding, "Ok, I'm going to e-mail Trouble and make an urgent request for a shuttle. We need to get to a safer space and get Fowl some major medical help." The centaur thought a moment then said, "Yes, but we'll have a challenge keeping Fowl calm on the shuttle, you may have to knock him out, again." The LEP captain thought of the obnoxious Orion and smiled perversely at the thought.

Holly quickly typed an email to the LEP Commander.

__

Cmdr – Shuttle attacked by space probe of fairy origin. Foaly believes probe was re-programmed by unknown parties, possibly extra-terrestrial. All hands lost except Foaly, Fowl and myself. Fowl suffering from Atlantis Complex. Urgently request shuttle to rescue all, potential for probe return is high.

_Capt. Holly Short_

The answer came quickly and neither Holly nor Foaly liked what they read.

_Capt – Council and LEP aware of space probe, due to other surface incidents. Lockdown ordered at Haven. Shuttle rescue from Haven not possible at this time. Possible rescue from Atlantis being discussed. Will advise. Do not respond, we will respond when rescue is approved._

_Cmdr Kelp_

At that moment , Artemis began to stir.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**A/N - I'm not feeling the love out there. No one liked the second chapter. I received one review that was not positive. That's OK. Better negative reviews than none at all. They say hate is not the opposite of love, indifference is. Don't be indifferent. Love it? Review! Hate it? Review! **

**Clarifications - This story follows the excerpt of the first chapter of Atlantis Complex. It is not intended to be consistent with the Waterstone release. Since Orion confesses love for Holly in that release, it wouldn't be original to use, so I am going in a different direction. Also I first said a two-shot, then three, well, it's a four.**

**I do not own Artemis Fowl.**

Artemis was dreaming. He was at Fowl Manor walking through the house and nobody else was there. "Butler!" he called. No answer. "Mother! Father! Myles and Beckett! Is anyone home?" The walls echoed his words, but no other sounds responded to his call. As he walked past the library, he he heard muffled conversation. Artemis stopped to listen at the door. Two people, male and female. They sounded happy, talking, laughing softly with some periods of silence. At one such moment, he opened the door. Holly was in street clothes, jeans and a short sleeved blouse. Her hair slightly tousled. A large smile was on her face. She was being held by a male who was bent over to hold her. He had jet black hair dressed in an Armani suit, with his back partially to Artemis so that he couldn't tell who he was. They were just breaking a kiss and the male turned to Artemis. It was himself!

"Ahh Fowl", said Orion. "I am claiming my prize. Since you don't have the intestinal fortitude to make known your feelings to Miss Holly, I am forced to do it for you, and I will reap all the wonderful benefits that come with that." Holly looked at Artemis. "If you would only tell me how you feel, Arty. Just tell me how you feel". "I- I", Artemis stutters, afraid to say and afraid not to say. "Holly, I …" "Just say it Artemis. Artemis what do you want to say? Artemis… Artemis..." her voice drifted off, then became strong again. "Artemis, are you all right?"

Artemis opened his eyes with a start. Holly's face was six inches in front of his, looking concerned. "Artemis, it's OK, it's me, Holly". Artemis sat up and looked back at Holly. "S_he's so close, right here…" _, he thought, then , "Holly that's seven, must be five, please. Must be five", he said. "_Ten, good", _he thought. Holly sighed, "yes, sorry, I forgot… Artemis", she added his name quickly as she counted. "You were talking in your sleep, I was worried, somewhat", again adding a word to get to ten. "I was…had a dream." Artemis thought of the dream's contents, he was disturbed. "Holly" he said softly, "I need to talk with you…about ..." Holly looked intently at him as the boy hesitated. She put her left hand on his right shoulder, "yes, Artemis, what is it?" "_Five, good"_, he thought. He looked back at Holly, felt her hand on his shoulder, and then his mind went blank.

"Artemis? Artemis, are you there?" Artemis had stopped talking in mid-sentence. His eyes seemed to not be looking at anything, and then suddenly, they looked deep into Holly's eyes. His face split into a smarmy smile. "Capt. Short. We have simply got to stop meeting like this." He winked. "Once again, I find your touch warming, and if I may say, quite exhilarating!" Holly's eyes widened. "_Did Artemis just wink?" He must be…"_ Her thought was interrupted by a hand gently holding her left wrist. "I hope my touch does the same to you." She looked down. Orion had reached up with his right hand to hold the hand that was on his shoulder. She looked back at his face and saw arched eyebrows over eyes that looked as though they both knew what he meant.

Holly recoiled, jerking her hand away. "Artemis, what do you think you are doing?" she said in a low growl. Orion shook his head. "Tsk tsk, dear Holly, you have once again confused me with the bumbling Artemis Fowl. At the risk of repeating my earlier introduction, I am Orion and I am at your service where ever and how ever you need. I think you would be far happier spending time with someone who appreciates your beauty as well as your considerable skills as a recon officer and athletic prowess, an exciting combination, I might add. Not someone who lies to you and manipulates you for his own gain." Holly was thankful that Foaly out of earshot, knowing she never hear the end of it from him.

"So you're not Artemis Fowl?" Holly asked, buying time as she figured out how to handle this. Orion sighed deeply. "No Holly dear, I am not. Artemis is a fool with whom I would have nothing to do with if we didn't happen to share the same body. Such an inconvenience, really." Orion pouted, for a moment. He brightened, "but I have you now and that makes up for a lot." He smiled a toothy grin. "Why don't we help warm each other up, wouldn't that be just enchanting?" Orion patted the ground next to him, and then reached out with both arms."

Holly took another step back, "Hold on there, right now, mud-boy", she said in a low voice through clenched teeth, "whoever you are, don't you touch me with what those ideas you have in your head. I'll put a hurt on you so fast, you'll need two more personalities to share the pain with". Orion's face fell. "Please call me Orion and don't make light of my inconvenience with Fowl. Sharing this body with one is dreadful enough."

Holly stared at Orion. "_Is this really happening?", _she thought. _"Artemis had many faults, but this guy, ugh. I've got to do something"_. Holly had always faced a problem head on; she decided she shouldn't change tactics now. "Artem-…" Orion frowned. "Sorry, Orion...", Orion smile brightly. "I'm going to come up to you, but keep your hands to yourself and on the ground, got it?" "Oh, yes. Please come closer", Orion crooned. "I mean it mud–boy, one false move and I'll put you in a head-lock and toss you on the ice. Understood?" Orion simply smiled and nodded his head.

Orion / Artemis was still on the floor, sitting up against a wall. Holly approached slowly, and then kneeled down just in front of the boy. Orion's smile broadened. "Don't say a word.", warned Holly. She paused. Then she took Orion's face in her hands and looked him in the eye. "You…Are…Artemis…Fowl!" she shouted into his face. "The great genius Artemis Fowl II! You discovered the fairies and stole their gold. You saved the workd and traveled through time with me! It's time to start what you do best and figure out a plan to get us out of this!" Orion seemed not to hear. As soon as Holly touched him and looked into his eyes, he lost focus. His face froze momentarily, and then he went unconscious.


	4. Chapter 4

Motivated by their predicament, Foaly finished reading the material he downloaded about the Atlantis Complex in record time. He was now contemplating what he had learned.

"Foaly, get in here, NOW!"

Foaly grimaced. "Don't interrupt my deep thinking, you ruin the genius process!"

"Foaly, shut up and get in here. Artemis blacked out!" The centaur jumped up and trotted to the other room.

Artemis was slumped against the wall, out cold. Holly was kneeling next to the boy with her hands on his face. "Holly, what did you do? I told you to keep him calm."

"Hold on horsey boy, I didn't do anything. I just tried to talk some sense into him, that's all. He blacked out as I was talking to him."

Foaly thought a moment, "I must know everything that happened in your discussions with Artemis. Start with telling me again what happened when you went to fetch him on the ice. Every detail is important. I've been studying this condition and every action of his and yours may be a clue."

Holly begin her description. She described in detail how she grabbed his arm the second time she stopped him looking at him. She indicated that was when he changed to the Orion personality.

"What exactly did he say as Orion?", Foaly asked.

Holly hesitated and felt her face flush. "I'm not sure ...".

"Holly, every last detail is important, what did he say, please try." "Oh all right" and she red-faced related his smarmy look and comments on how her touch made him warm.

Foaly laughed. "Artemis was hitting on you?" Unsuccessfully trying to stifle giggles, Foaly covered his mouth. Holly's temper got the better of her.

She punched Foaly in the shoulder. "It's not funny Foaly! He's sick!"

The centaur stopped laughing. "OK, OK, sorry" He rubbed his sore shoulder. "Just no more hitting. Ok, go on. That is when you incapacitated him, right?" Holly nodded. "OK, now tell me what happened when he woke up and then blacked out, again."

"OK, but if I see one smile or hear any more giggles, you'll have two sore shoulders, got it?" The elf then described how Artemis was talking in his sleep, how she knelt next to him to make sure he was OK and put her hand on his shoulder. She related that this was when Orion reappeared. Red-faced she described Orion's advances, as Foaly bit his cheeks to keep the laughter from spilling out. Holly glared as she saw the mirth in his eyes. Finally, she explained how she tried to talk sense back into Fowl and when she held his face spoke to him, he blacked out.

"Hmm, a pattern is appearing. If I am correct, he will be Artemis again when he wakes up."

"Ok genius, how do you know?", asked Holly, face still warm from describing Orion's behavior to Foaly and Foaly's apparent enjoyment.

"First, because I'm a genius.", Holly rolled her eyes. "Second, because I have been studying this condition." There is usually a trigger that will cause the person to change personalities. From your description, you are the trigger."

"What, me? Why do you say that", Holly was growing more uncomfortable with this whole thing.

"Think about it, every time you have touched Artemis and looked into his eyes, he has either switched personalities immediately, or blacked out. The first time you forced the black out, but either way, when he woke up, he had changed again."

Holly paused to consider this. "OK, I'll buy it for now. But what does that get us?"

"Well, the next observation is that he wanted to tell you something as Artemis, just before you touched him and changed him back to Orion. Then when you touched him again, he blacked out, instead of changing immediately to Artemis. It appears there is a struggle within him with something he wants to share, but has trouble saying it. This could be the source of the complex. The alter ego, Orion, is acting out what Artemis wants to say or do. We need to get him, as Artemis, to say whatever it is. And the fact that Orion is being… ", Foaly paused, "somewhat amorous," Foaly braced himself for another punch, but Holly just glowered at him, "could be a clue as to the message."

"Ahem". Holly and Foaly turned to see Artemis standing in the door. "As Foaly says, I have a condition that requires some verbal release of data or information. I have temporarily, I think, gained some lucidity, for now.", said the Irish lad. _"Fifteen and ten, good…irrational but good."_ "I need a few minutes alone with Captain Short. Holly, please come in here." He motioned to the other room.

Foaly turned his head and stifled a snicker. "Don't touch him, Holly. We don't want him to change again" Holly nodded and followed Artemis.

Holly looked at Artemis, he appeared nervous and unsure. "Is important that I say this quickly, while I can. It seems that our experience in the past has left me with feelings for you. While it could be the uncontrollable hormonal changes of an adolescent battling puberty, here.", "_Ten, fifteen and fifteen, so far so good"_, "it is real, quite real. Captain Short, putting it bluntly…", he paused, " I Artemis Fowl, love you". "_Five and ten…good, but why so?"_ Artemis let out a large sigh, his eyes widened, then he blacked out.

Artemis dreamt, again. He was back in the library with Orion and Holly. Holly was smiling at him but not saying anything. Orion stared back with hatred. "You told her. I didn't think you had the guts, Fowl. You are a selfish boor who loves only himself."

Artemis smiled his vampire smile, "That is obviously not true as I just proved. You, however, to use a present day vernacular, are now history!" With that, both Orion and Holly disappeared.

Holly caught Artemis before he fell. She set him down gently. In a few moments, he came to. Careful not to touch him, she said "Artemis? Is that you, Artemis."

Artemis answered, "Clearly it's me, Captain, you can just look and see that " Holly frowned, then smiled. "That sounds like the old Artemis Fowl"

"I believe it is, Captain Short. And those seven words you just used are quite appropriate." He smiled a moment, then got up and turned to join Foaly.

Holly stopped him, "Artemis…", she began.

"Captain", he responded, "while it is true, I said what I said earlier for the express purposed of curing myself. I have no intention of acting on those feeling while there are dangers threatening the world. Foaly and you will need my considerable help in solving this one. Let's get to it, shall we?" , he then left to join Foaly. Holly blinked and followed Artemis.

As they entered, Foaly said, "put on your helmet, Holly, an email is coming in." Holly donned the helmet and read the email.

_Atlantis shuttle rescue approved. Foaly, Short and Fowl authorized to enter Atlantis. Medical warlocks standing by. Shuttle ETA to your 20 is 90 minutes. Further via comms secure link once you are safely aboard shuttle._

_Cmdr Kelp_

"Well, it appears that we'll be getting out of here, soon", Holly said. "Let's get ready" busied herself in preparation.

Fowl started assessing the rogue fairy probe problem. Before he joined Foaly, he stopped and gazed at Holly as she worked. "_If only…_" he thought to himself. Then returned to his planning.

**THE END Hope You enjoyed. Please Review**


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